FEBRUARY 10, 2023・FRIDAY・17:14
Maya quietly stares at Pamela who is anxiously walking around the room.
"Basi'g niback-out sila," she says, her voice shaking from the panic. "Sure jud ka nga nisugot sila, Hamza?"
"WHAT IF THEY'RE BACKING OUT?"
"ARE YOU REALLY SURE THEY AGREED TO DO THIS?"
"Sure gyud ko. Ipakita pa nako ilahang text." She takes out her phone from her bag and browses through it.
"I SWEAR. I'LL SHOW YOU HER TEXTS."
"Basi'g ginaprank lang ta nila."
"WHAT IF THEY'RE JUST PRANKING US OR SOMETHING?"
Mariz crosses her arms. "Relax lang, Pam. Muabot lang lage to sila."
"JEEZ. JUST CALM DOWN, PAM. THEY'LL BE HERE."
"Unya'g dili sila maabot? Unsaon mana nato? Mangita na pud ta'g lahi nga mga guests?"
"AND WHAT IF THEY WON'T? WHAT DO WE DO THEN? DO WE LOOK FOR OTHER GUESTS?"
"Ana gyud. Dawaton na lang gyud nato. Naa ba diay ta'y choice kung dili sila ganahan sa ato?" Mariz leans back and sways back and forth on teacher's ergonomic chair.
"YES. WE JUST HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT. DO WE REALLY HAVE A CHOICE WHETHER THEY LIKE US OR NOT?"
"Maypa'g ako na lang ang nakipag-sabot ato sa ila," Pamela mumbles to herself, giving a pointed glance towards Hamza.
"I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE NEGOTIATING WITH THEM."
"Chill lang tang tanan, baby girls. Kung dili ta madayon tonight, manglibre ko," Gabbie says, trying to connect her phone to the bluetooth speaker.
"WE SHOULD JUST ALL CHILL, BABY GIRLS. IF NOTHING HAPPENS TONIGHT, I'LL TREAT YOU ALL TO DINNER."
"Sure ka?" Mariz asks. "Ay dato man ka so sure gyud."
"ARE YOU SURE?"
"WELL, YOU'RE RICH. SO OF COURSE YOU ARE."
"If dili madayon tonight. Pero madayon man ta tonight, so dili ko manglibre."
"IF NOTHING HAPPENS. BUT I KNOW SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT, SO I'M SURE I WON'T BE TREATING YOU."
Hamza gets up and shows her the phone.
Pamela nods as she skims through them.
Mariz notices Maya separating herself from the rest of them, sitting at the far back of the classroom. "Maya."
She turns to look at her.
"Okay lang ka?"
"YOU OKAY?"
Maya nods, and smiles unconvincingly. She unlocks her phone and goes to her Instagram. She goes to yourbfischeatingon_u's profile. She goes to the messages. Still no response. She clenches her jaw.
INSERT
MAYA: Hoy. Happy na ka? Tama na ka. Murag naa'y lain si Noel. Proud na ka sa imong sarili? Kinsa man ka? Unsa man imong gusto gikan sa amo?
MAYA: HEY ASSHOLE. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? YOU'RE RIGHT. NOEL IS CHEATING. ARE YOU PROUD OF YOURSELF? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?
She presses send. But suddenly, the app redirects her to her main feed.
Music starts to play, as Gabbie finally succeeds in connecting to the speaker.
Maya, confused, goes to her messages to check if she managed to send it successfully.
But yourbfischeatingon_u is no longer on the list.
On her most recently sent message, there's an user with no profile picture, just the default blank place holder.
It's a deleted profile.
She taps it to see if she can find the messages she sent to yourbfischeatingon_u.
They're there.
It's gone. The account is deleted.
Still, in disbelief, she goes to her notifications to see the one where the account followed her. Maybe she could access the account from there.
The notification is gone.
She goes ahead and searches the username. It leads her to nowhere; just suggestions that are adjacent to the username. She exhales, frustrated.
Suddenly, there's chatter and laughter from outside the classroom.
"Oh my god. Naa na sila!" Pamela exclaims.
"OH MY GOD. THEY'RE HERE!"
Maya turns to look.
"Kalma lang Pam," Mariz tells her.
"OKAY. JUST CALM DOWN, PAM."
One by one, the members walk inside the classroom. Greetings are exchanged.
Hamza is immediately approached by Hazel.
Mariz and Gabbie have already started briefing the other members.
Pamela is at the side clearly waiting for someone else.
Gabriel, sees Maya still sitting at the back of the classroom.
He unslings his bag and puts it down on one of the chairs. He gives her a nod and a lustful stare as he runs his hands through his hair.
Julio finally walks into the classroom.
Pamela's eyes widen at first but she immediately manages to compose herself.
He works his charm around everyone in the room. A little 'hi' to Mariz and Gabbie, some small banter with his friends. He even manages to give Maya a little wave. He passes by Pamela, but before she could say anything, he proceeds to look at the decorations the girls had set up.
Pamela forces a little smile and takes out a small piece of paper from her pocket. Her script that afternoon. She sits down on one of the chairs by the white board, occasionally stealing little glances at Julio.
"Hi," Gabriel says.
It startles Maya a little as she has been looking all around the room and obsevibg everyone.
Gab takes off his school uniform polo to reveal his black tank top. "Nag-unsa man ka diri? Lonely lagi ka?" And pulls a chair to sit next to her.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHY ARE YOU SO LONELY?"
"Erm..." She looks up at him. But from the side of her eye, she notices someone passing by the window outside.
"Tama. Sorry diay ha, kay na-late mi. Dugay man gud nahuman ug exam tong kauban namo, si Patrick. Unya nag practice pa pud mi gamay. Counting lang gud para maremind lang mi sa sayaw."
"OH, BY THE WAY, SORRY WE'RE LATE. ONE OF OUR MEMBERS, PATRICK, TOOK A LONG TIME TO TAKE HIS EXAM. ALSO, WE HAD TO PRACTICE. JUST A LITTLE COUNTING JUST SO WE CAN REMEMBER THE ROUTINE."
Maya looks to see who it is, worried that a teacher or a security guard might stop them from doing the shoot. Instead, she sees that it's Jasmin, walking off to somewhere in a hurry. She immediately gets up. "Sorry, Gab. Unya na ta storya ha." And walks toward the door.
"SORRY, GAB. I'LL TALK TO YOU LATER, OKAY?"
"Maya, asa ka?" Hamza asks.
"MAYA, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"
She looks back at her. "Urm...Naa lang ko'y adtoon kadali Hamz. Balik lang ko dayon. Okay lang?"
"URM...I JUST HAVE TO GET SOMETHING HAMZ. BE RIGHT BACK. IS THAT OKAY?"
Hamza nods.
Maya proceeds to walk out of the classroom. She still sees Jasmin three classrooms ahead of her. She walks faster just to catch up with her. "Jasmin!" She exclaims.
Jasmin stops walking and turns around, the shadows are almost consuming her as the day begins to break. She cocks an eyebrow. "Uy, hi. Unsa man akong matabang sa imo, Maya?"
"OH, HEY. IS THERE ANYTHING I COULD DO FOR YOU TODAY?"
She clenches her jaw. "Ikaw to?"
"WAS THAT YOU?"
"Ha?"
"WHAT?"
"Ikaw ba to? Tong sa Instagram?" Maya asks, almost catching up to her.
"WAS THAT YOU? ON INSTAGRAM?"
"Unsang Instagram? Nabuang na ka?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN INSTAGRAM? ARE YOU CRAZY?"
"Ayaw ra gud pangat—" She stops herself and takes a deep breath, trying to formulate another question in her head. "Nag-unsa man ka dinhe? Hangtod 12 ra man atong klase."
"JUST STOP LYI—"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? OUR CLASSES STOP AT 12."
Jasmin looks back at her, confused. "Wow. Kuyawa ba nimo. Teacher ka kay mangutana ka'g ingon ana? Ikaw nag-unsa man ka dinhe?"
"WOW. WHAT ARE YOU? A TEACHER? ASKING STUFF LIKE THAT? WHAT ABOUT YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Maya doesn't respond.
Jasmin sighs. "Nagpasa ko ug project. Gihulat pa namo si ma'am kay nagproctor pa siya ug isa ka section sa Grade 12. Okay na? Happy na kay natubag na ang mga pangutana? Okay. Mangihi na ko." She turns away from her and continues walking.
"I WAS SUBMITTING A PROJECT. WE HAD TO WAIT FOR MA'AM TO FINISH, BECAUSE SHE WAS PROCTORING A SECTION IN GRADE 12. SO, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? DID I ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS? GOOD? GOOD. BECAUSE I NEED TO PEE."
"Jasmin, naga-unsa mo ni Noel?"
"JASMIN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH NOEL?"
She pauses, but she doesn't look at Maya.
"Kabalo man ko nga naga-kita mo. Last-last week, nakita tamo nga nag-uban before ang klase. So unsa inyong ginabuhat?"
"I KNOW YOU SEE EACH OTHER. THE OTHER WEEK, I SAW YOU MEETING UP BEFORE GOING TO SCHOOL. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Jasmin turns around and walks towards her. "Gusto ka makabalo sa among ginabuhat?"
"YOU WANT TO REALLY KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING?"
Maya nods with a nervous little swallow.
"Naga-lamutak mi."
"WE MAKE OUT."
Maya, despite having already anticipated the worst, still was not prepared for what she had just said.
"Naga-lamutak mi tapos gina-isturyahan ka namo. Kay tanga kaayo ka."
"WE MAKE OUT A LOT. AND THEN WE TALK ABOUT YOU. BECAUSE YOU'RE SO DUMB."
Maya bites her lip, trying her best not to cry. She can feel her face flare up with anger and disappointment as she looks up at Jasmin. "Fuck you."
She smiles. "Fuck you pud sa imo, Maya. Fuck...you."
"FUCK YOU TOO, MAYA. FUCK...YOU."
Maya walks away from her, hoping that Jasmin wasn't able to see her tears falling. She sees the stairs and quickly treads down them. She pulls out her phone and goes to Messenger. She scrolls through it, looking for Noel's name. She fails to find it the first time because of the tears blurring her sight. She wipes them off and types his name on the search box. She finds him. She catches her breath and presses the voice mail button on the phone. She starts to record. "Kabalo nako sa tanan, Noel," she says, trying her best to speak clearly in between the sobs. "Nag-isturya na mi ni Jasmin. Kabalo nako sa tanan." She sends it and immediately locks her phone. She looks up to check if Jasmin is still there, watching her suffer.
"JASMIN AND I TALKED. I KNOW EVERYTHING."
She already left.
She wipes another tear as she sits down on the stairs.
Her phone rings. It's Noel calling her.
She doesn't reject the call. She sets the phone to silent mode.
"Maya?"
She turns to look behind her and sees Gab making his way to her.
"Okay lang ka? Nagsugod na sila ug interview," he says as he sits down beside her.
"YOU OKAY? THEY'VE ALREADY STARTED WITH THE INTERVIEWS."
She doesn't respond.
The phone continues to vibrate in her hand.
He notices it and looks at her, noticing her puffy eyes. "Dili nimo tubagon?"
"ARE YOU GONNA ANSWER THAT?"
She shakes her head. "Nag-away mo sa imong uyab?"
"ARE YOU FIGHTING WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND?"
She nods.
Another tear falls from her left eye.
Gab checks his pockets and offers her a handkerchief. "Fuck him."
She takes it and pats her eyes dry.
"Dili ka niya deserve kay gipahilak ka niya."
"HE DOESN'T DESERVE YOU IF HE MAKES YOU CRY LIKE THAT."
Maya doesn't say anything and gives him back his handkerchief.
"Ayaw sayanga imong luha sa mga tao nga dili deserving ana." He gently brushes away some lose hair from her face.
"STOP WASTING YOUR TEARS ON PEOPLE WHO DON'T DESERVE IT."
Maya looks into his eyes.
He puts his hand on the back of her head and kisses her back.
Suddenly, Maya hears som footsteps below them. She immediately pulls away.
"Babe?" A girl with a bob and a fringe stops and looks at the two of them.
"Erm..." Gab lets out a nervous laugh. He quickly gets up and walks towards the girl. He immediately leans in to kiss her. "Hi. Nag-unsa ka dinhe?"
"HI. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Maya quietly closes her eyes and shakes her head.
"Wala lang. Gusto lang unta ko musabay ug uli sa imo. Nag-text man ko. Wala ka nakadawat?"
"OH NOTHING. I JUST WANTED TO GO HOME TOGETHER. I TEXTED YOU. DID YOU GET IT?"
Gab checks his phone. "Ay. Sorry. Akoa man gud gisilent akong phone kay nag sugod na ang interview."
"OH. SORRY. MY PHONE WAS ON SILENT BECAUSE OF THE INTERVIEW AND STUFF."
"Ahh okay. May gani nireply si Hazel pagtext nako."
"OH OKAY. IT'S A GOOD THING HAZEL REPLIED WHEN I TEXTED HER."
"Oo. May gani." Gab nods and scratches his head.
"YEAH. A GOOD THING."
The girl looks at Maya. "Kinsa na siya?"
"WHO'S THAT?"
Maya panics a little, waiting for Gab to say something.
"Erm...Isa na siya atong mga nag-interview. Kuan naa siya'y problema sa iyahang uyab. Mao tong gina-comfort nako siya."
"ERM...SHE'S ONE OF THE INTERVIEW PEOPLE. AND ERM...HE HAS A PROBLEM WITH HER BOYFRIEND. I WAS COMFORTING HER."
The girl nods and sympathetically smiles at her.
"Kuan babe. Balik sa ko sa classroom ha kay murag magshoot nami atong sayaw nga section."
"SO ERM...BABE. I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE CLASSROOM. I THINK WE'RE SHOOTING THE DANCE SECTION."
"Okay, babe. Ako na bahala ani niya."
"OKAY, BABE. I'LL TAKE CARE OF THIS."
"Good luck," he says to Maya, treading up the stairs.
The gives her a loving grin and sits next to her. "Hi." She offers her hand. "Bianca diay. Unsa imong pangalan?"
"I'M BIANCA. WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"
"Maya," she says, under her breath.
"Unsa ka? Grade 11?"
"WHAT ARE YOU? GRADE 11?"
Maya nods.
"Ahh. Nagbulag mo sa imong uyab?"
"OH. ARE YOU BREAKING UP WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND?"
"Erm...Basi'g nakadisturbo ko sa imo ba. Pwede lang man ka mudiretso sa taas."
"ERM...SORRY, I DON'T WANT TO KEEP YOU. YOU CAN JUST GO AHEAD UPSTAIRS IF YOU WANT."
Bianca shakes her head. "Sus, okay lang uy. Dapat, kitang mga babae, magtinabangay ta sa isa't-isa."
"NAH. DON'T SWEAT IT. US GIRLS HAVE TO STICK TOGETHER AND HELP EACH OTHER."
"Urm...Salamat."
"ERM...THANKS."
She extends her arms and hugs Maya. "Okay lang na, Maya." She pulls away and fixes Maya's hair a little bit. "One year lang man ko ahead sa imo. Pero from experience, maingon gyud nako immature pa gyud ang mga boys pag-Grade 11. Pero pagstart nila ug Grade 12. Mapansin nimo nga lahi na sila. Mas concerned na sila sa feelings sa laing tao. Dili na kaayo sila selfish. Kanang, mas mature na gyud sila. So, relax lang, girl. Ma-okay lang lagi ang tanan."
"IT'S OKAY MAYA."
"I KNOW I'M ONLY ONE YEAR AHEAD OF YOU. BUT FROM EXPERIENCE, I CAN TRULY SAY THAT IN GRADE 11, BOYS ARE STILL VERY IMMATURE. BUT ONCE THEY START GRADE 12, YOU START TO NOTICE A CHANGE IN THEM. THEY'RE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT HOW OTHER PEOPLE FEEL. THEY'RE LESS SELFISH. LIKE, THEY'VE SUDDENLY MATURED. SO, JUST RELAX, GIRL. EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT."
Maya gives her a half-hearted smirk.
"Okay, sige. Okay na ka?"
"OKAY. ARE YOU GOOD NOW?"
Maya nods.
"Nice!" She gets up and pats her butt to remove all the dust from the stairs. "Tara, sabay na ta pasaka?"
"WANT TO GO TOGETHER UPSTAIRS?"
Maya exhales and gets up. She slowly pats her back.
Together, the two of them go up the stairs.
***
Music is playing as Maya and Bianca walk inside the classroom.
8-Inch Crew is already dancing.
Bianca finds a seat in the corner and Maya joins Hamza.
"Sorry. Nadugay ko," she whispers to Hamza.
"SORRY I TOOK A WHILE."
"Okay lang."
"ARE YOU OKAY?"
Maya looks around the room. She sees Pamela in the corner, unenthusiastically looking at them dancing.
"Kumusta si Pamela? Nagstorya na silang Julio?"
"HOW'S PAMELA? DID HER AND JULIO TALK?"
Hamza turns to her and shakes her head.
"Okay. Basi'g kay nabusy ta sa shoot?"
"OKAY. MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE HE'S BUSY WITH THE SHOOT?"
Hamza shakes her head. "Giisturya mi niya tanan except kang Pamela."
"HE TALKED TO EVERYONE EXCEPT PAMELA."
Maya looks at her again, concern all over her face.